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The Humboldtian Tradition

Peter Josephson, University of Uppsala, Sweden, Thomas Karlsohn, University of Uppsala, Sweden and Johan Östling, University of Lund, Sweden

In The Humboldtian Tradition, eleven scholars consider Wilhelm von Humboldt as a historical phenomenon and a contemporary symbol. Inspired by the growing body of literature that in recent years has problematized the modern research university, they put Humboldt’s basic academic principles into context and discuss their significance for the current debate about higher education.
The authors draw on the latest research in order to bring the educational and research policies of our day into perspective. At a time when the university is undergoing deep-seated transformations worldwide, they address the question how we should relate to the ideas associated with Humboldt’s name. What is his relevance to the twenty-first century?
Contributors are: Mitchell Ash, Pieter Dhondt, Ylva Hasselberg, Marja Jalava, Peter Josephson, Thomas Karlsohn, Claudia Lindén, Johan Östling, Sharon Rider, Hans Ruin, Susan Wright.

Biographical note

Peter Josephson, Ph.D., is researcher at the Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University. He has published monographs, text books and articles on the history of universities and higher education.Thomas Karlsohn. Ph.D., is Associate Professor at the Department of History of Science and Ideas, Uppsala University. He has published monographs, translations and articles on the history of universities, education and philosophy.Johan Östling, Ph.D., is Associate Professor and Pro Futura Scientia Fellow at Lund University and Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study (SCAS) in Uppsala. He is currently writing a book about the idea of the university in modern Germany.

Readership

All interested in the history of universities, and anyone concerned with higher education and research policy in general and the Humboldtian tradition in particular.

Table of contents

Contents
About the Authors vii
Introduction: The Humboldtian Tradition
and Its Transformations 1Peter Josephson, Thomas Karlsohn and Johan Östling
PART 1
Historical Origins
1 The Publication Mill: The Beginnings of Publication History
as an Academic Merit in German Universities, 1750–1810 23Peter Josephson
2 On Humboldtian and Contemporary Notions
of The Academic Lecture 44Thomas Karlsohn
3 It Takes a Real Man to Show True Femininity: Gender Transgression
in Goethe’s and Humboldt’s Concept of Bildung 58Claudia Lindén
PART 2
Transformations of a Tradition
4 Humboldt the Undead: Multiple Uses of ‘Humboldt’
and his ‘Death’ in The ‘Bologna’ Era 81Mitchell G. Ash
5 ‘Humboldt’ in Belgium: Rhetoric on the German
University Model 97Pieter Dhondt
6 The Regeneration of the University: Karl Jaspers and the Humboldtian
Tradition in the Wake of the Second World War 111Johan Östling
7 When Humboldt Met Marx: The 1970s Leftist Student Movement
and the Idea of the University in Finland 127Marja Jalava
vi
contents﻿
PART 3
Contemporary Contentions
8 ‘Humboldt’, Humbug! Contemporary Mobilizations of ‘Humboldt’
as a Discourse to Support the Corporatization and Marketization of
Universities and Disparage Alternatives 143Susan Wright
9 Philosophy, Freedom, and the Task of the University:
Reflections on Humboldt’s Legacy 164Hans Ruin
10 Reclaiming Norms: The Value of Normative Structures
for the University as Workplace and Enterprise 178Ylva Hasselberg
11 The Very Idea of Higher Education: Vocation of Man or
Vocational Training? 191Sharon Rider
Index 213

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